smoke and mirrors

briefly, this time... and it's going to be sort of odd. what i'm going to say goes against my character. usually i write on something that i feel strongly committed to, something that lines up with the way i think and feel. this time, it's a little different.

stop questioning your faith...
...unless you have trusted/admired friends who don't.



here's the reasoning:

• we become like the people we hang with.
  
  it's so true, and it becomes more true to the degree that we trust and admire those peeps. you might notice that you tend to believe and follow the opinions of people you look up to, even if some stranger might have a stronger argument or higher intelligence.
  
  in Dogterom's class today, we talked about how, as a person's identity is forming (especially late teenage years), that person will be shaped most significantly by his or her significant others. but it's more complicated than that. imagine you're one of my closest friends. this is what i would say to you, if i were honest:
  
  "i become the me that i think you think i am."
  
  in other words, i gradually conform to the reflection of myself that i see in your eyes. not the me that you actually see, but the me that i see you seeing. =D
  
  that's really bad. i may actually be experiencing a form of it right now. if you look up to me, and i have frequent conversations with you about how your faith is struggling, you're going to filter those conversations through your own perceptions and self-concepts, and gradually come to believe that your true identity must include a struggle with faith. and that means that you will resist any changes to that identity, including a resolution to your struggle.
  
  of course, this is all subconscious... which is what makes it dangerous.
  
  
• the church is the setting for the individual Christian life.
  
  VU has emphasized certain things to me over these past 3 school years, in various ways. one of the truths that continues to come up over and over, in multiple classes and for multiple reasons, is this: it is insanely difficult and perhaps impossible to live life alone as a Christian. the church needs itself. if you are a Christian, you can't be healthy or whole unless you're living that life with someone[s]: namely, other Christians. especially ones who are stronger / more mature than you (in Christ).
  
  there are all kinds of reasons for the church. people have written books on just this topic (ecclesiology). God has designed things this way. can't be a Christian alone. and that's got to be seen in your daily life, not just in your tithing to a local congregation. hopefully this blog can be one of many influences that will inspire you to tear down the false distinction between your life and your faith. they're not separate.

~ ~ ~

we need to walk life with people who need people to walk life with... but the reverse is true, as well. we are those people who need people.